Childhood Mistreatment Primes Brain for Mental Illness

Childhood Mistreatment Primes Brain for Mental Illness

Changes in the brain linked to childhood abuse and maltreatment may prime a child for future mental health problems, new research finds.

The study, which compared the brains of teenagers who had been abused as children with those of very similar teens who had not experienced any mistreatment, is one of the first to follow individuals before they are diagnosed with a mental illness. That strengthens the case for a causal link between the damage and the disease, the researchers said.